Facebook-Led Open Compute Project Plans The Future Of The Data Center

There’s a new open source project--led by giant companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Dell--that is looking to change data center hardware in the same way that traditional open source projects have impacted software.

1 of 7

The Open Compute Project, which recently held a summit in New York to announce several new projects, is dedicated to finding a way to do for large data center hardware what projects like Linux and Apache have done for enterprise software. The Open Compute Project has released specifications for data center hardware, including servers, racks, batteries, and cooling and electrical design. With these open specifications, the idea is that companies and vendors will be able to build products designed to these open hardware specifications.
The focus of the Open Compute Project is on the highest-end data centers, the kinds that one would find in companies such as Facebook and Amazon. But there is potential for some of these designs to find their way eventually into smaller data centers. And there is a great deal of potential for savings in power, better and cheaper cooling, and much greater interoperability for hardware in a data center.

Jim Rapoza is Senior Research Analyst at the Aberdeen Group and Editorial Director for Tech Pro Essentials. For over 20 years he has been using, testing, and writing about the newest technologies in software, enterprise hardware, and the Internet. He previously served as the ... View Full Bio

Our latest survey shows growing demand, fixed budgets, and good reason why resellers and vendors must fight to remain relevant. One thing's for sure: The data center is poised for a wild ride, and no one wants to be left behind.